Ad-hoc announcement in accordance with Section 15 of the WpHG [German Securities Trading Act]: Application for Delisting
Analytik Jena AG: Executive Board and Supervisory Board of Analytik Jena AG Decide to Apply for the Delisting of the Analytik Jena Share – Exercise of Call Options by the Majority Shareholder
Jena (Germany), September 18, 2014 – The Supervisory Board of Analytik Jena AG today approved the resolution of the Executive Board to submit an application to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to revoke the admission of its shares to the regulated market, including their current listing in the Prime Standard segment. The present listing of the shares for over-the-counter trading on the Stuttgart, Munich, Hanover, Düsseldorf, Berlin/Bremen, and Hamburg exchanges is not affected by this. The Company’s majority shareholder, Endress+Hauser (Deutschland) AG & Co. KG, had announced immediately prior to the above mentioned resolution its intention to exercise call options in order to acquire the total of 2,109,633 shares (27.56 % of the share capital and voting rights) held by the two other major shareholders, Mr. Klaus Berka and the Thüringer Industriebeteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG, in accordance with the option agreement concluded on November 14, 2013, on the condition that this would come into effect by 12:00 am on October 1, 2014, at the latest. Upon fulfillment of the condition, the majority shareholder’s equity interest will amount to approximately 82.22 % of the Company’s share capital and voting rights.
A significant reduction in the Company’s administrative costs is expected from Analytik Jena AG’s intended withdrawal from the regulated market. In the Executive Board’s view, the Company’s stock exchange listing no longer provides any significant benefits. In particular, the Company no longer relies on the possibility of raising capital on the stock exchange given the secured financing by its non-listed major shareholder Endress+Hauser (Deutschland) AG & Co. KG. The major shareholder already included a subsequent delisting as an intended step in its mandatory offer of October 31, 2013.
Durch den angestrebten Rückzug der Analytik Jena AG vom regulierten Markt ist eine deutliche Reduzierung des Verwaltungs- und Kostenaufwands der Gesellschaft zu erwarten. Aus Sicht des Vorstands ergeben sich aus der Börsennotierung keine signifikanten Vorteile für die Gesellschaft mehr; insbesondere ist die Gesellschaft aufgrund der gesicherten Finanzierung durch ihren nicht börsennotierten Großaktionär Endress+Hauser (Deutschland) AG & Co. KG nicht auf die Möglichkeit der Kapitalaufnahme an der Börse angewiesen. Ein späteres Delisting war bereits vom Großaktionär in seinem Pflichtangebot am 31. Oktober 2013 als angestrebte Maßnahme enthalten.
The protection of free-float investors is ensured not only by the shares’ continued listing for over-the-counter trading, but also by the fact that the revocation of admission should not become effective immediately, but instead only after the maximum period of six months following its announcement by the management of the stock exchange, in accordance with section 46(2) sentence 3 of the BörsO (Stock Exchange Regulations) for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In the interests of protecting minority shareholders, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board have decided not to apply for any shortening of the six-month period in accordance with section 46(3) sentence 2 of the BörsO for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.